Tilting chair



Sept. 20, 1955 F. LIE

TILTING CHAIR Filed Dec. 1, 1953' United States Patent TILTING CHAIRFinn Lie, Ring St., near Hamar, Norway Application December 1, 1953,Serial No. 395,392

Claims. (Cl. 155-77) The present invention relates to tilting chairswhere the seat is mounted for rearward tilting under resilient control.

One object of the invention is to provide a simple and durable tiltingdevice which is easy to apply to seat members of different types and ischeap to produce.

Another object is to provide a tilting device comprising a torsion barhaving a relatively great length and the ends of which are anchored tothe seat member and a member supporting same, respectively, to twistsaid bar during tilting of said seat member, whereby a wide range ofregulations are obtained.

An embodiment of the invention is as an example illustrated in theaccompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a chair embodying theinvention,

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the seat-supporting structure, partiallybroken away, and

Figure 3 is a section along the line IIIIII in Figure 2.

The invention is shown and described as applied to an office chair wherethe seat member is swiveled and is also capable of tilting movement in avertical plane, but as will be understood the invention is applicable tochairs of other types or to devices having seats capable of beingtilted.

In the drawing 1 denotes a seat member and 2 a base of standard type inwhich is positioned a vertically adjustable pivot 3 on which member 1 isrotatably secured by novel means as will hereinafter appear.

An U-shaped member 4, formed of a bent metal band or strip, has its legsinterconnected at the ends thereof by means of plate-shaped cross-pieces5, 5' respectively secured at opposite sides of said member 4 as shown.Said cross-pieces have formed therein aligned bores for receiving anupper reduced end portion 3 of the pivot 3 whereby to mount said member4 for rotatable movement around the axis of the pivot. Member 4 ispositioned in a plane extending at right angles to the axis of saidpivot and forms a support member for seat member 1.

The legs of support member 4 are provided with bores 6 in which isrotatably supported a tube-shaped member 7, the end portions of whichare rotatably received in bearing sleeves 8 each secured to the adjacentside portion of the member 1 by means of a mounting 9. The inner ends ofsaid sleeves are rigidly interconnected by means of a U-shaped member 10having its plane parallel with the plane of the frame 1 and its bightportion positioned at the side of the axis of the tube-shaped member 7opposite to the bight portion of member 4.

Within the tube-shaped member 7, and extending longitudinally thereof isa torsion bar 11, preferably a steel bar having square cross-section,one end of which is anchored to said tube-shaped member and the otherend to the adjacent bearing sleeve 8. Said anchorages may consist ofplugs 12 secured, as by welding, in said bearing sleeve and tube-shapedmember, respectively, and being provided with square appertures forreceiving the adjacent ends of said torsion bar 11. 1

2,718,257 Patented Sept. 20, 1955 On the bight portion of each of themembers 4 and 10 is secured, by welding, rive't'ting or the like, aU-shaped member 13 and 14, respectively, having its legs extendinginwardly of its bight portion. 2

In the legs of member 13 is rotatably supported a screw 15 with a handle16 on its lower end. A nut 17 on said screw 15 engages the upper side ofa fork-shaped free end 18' of a lever 18 secured on the tube-shapedmember 7 serving to retain same against rotation in the clockwisedirection, as viewed in Figure 3. The screw and nut 15, 17 respectively,serve also as pre-tensioning means for the torsion rod 11, as a twist ina counterclockwise direction may be given to the same by pressing thefree end of lever 18 downwards by means of said nut 17. Becauseof itspressing function nut 17 may be considered as a pressure member.

In order to prevent forward tilting of the seat member 1 from the normalposition shown in the drawing the lower cross-piece 5' of the member 4is provided with a rearwardly projecting extension 19 serving as anabutment for the lower leg element of the member 14. In the legs of saidmember 14 is rotatably secured a screw 20 having a handle 21 at thelower end thereof. The screw 20 is provided with a nut 22 serving as anadjustable stop which during tilting of the frame in clockwise directionagainst the action of the torsion rod engages the upper face of theextension 19 and limits said tilting movement.

I claim:

1. In a tilting chair the combination of a seat member, a base, a pivotextending from said base toward said frame, a support member mounted onsaid pivot, a tubeshaped member extending transversely of the seatmember and rotatably secured in said support member, bearing sleevessecured at opposite side portions of said seat member and receivingrotatably the adjacent ends of said tube-shaped member, a torsion barextending longitudinally within said tube-shaped member having one endanchored thereto and the opposite end to the adjacent bearing sleeve,adjustable means interconnecting said support member and tube-shapedmember so that said torsion bar is twisted when the seat member isrearwardly tilted, and means interconnecting said bearing sleeves andco-operating with said support member to limit the tilting movement ofthe seat member in the opposite direction.

2. In a tilting chair as in claim 1, in which said adjustable meansconsist of a lever secured to the tube-shaped member and a pressuremember carried by the support member and engaging the free end of saidlever.

3. In a tilting chair as in claim 1, in which the interconnecting meansincludes a U-shaped member having an inwardly directed element whichengages the lower face of a rearwardly directed extension on the supportmember and retains the seat member in normal position against the actionof the torsion bar.

4. In a tilting chair as in claim 3 in which said U- shaped member isprovided with an adjustable stop cooperating with the upper face of saidrearwardly directed extension to limit the rearward tilting movement ofsaid seat member.

5. In a tilting chair the combination of a seat member, a base, asupport member, means mounting said support member on said base, atube-shaped member extending transversely of the seat member androtatably secured in said support member, bearing sleeves secured atopposite side portions of said seat member and receiving rotatably theadjacent ends of said tube-shaped member, a torsion bar extendinglongitudinally within said tubeshaped member having one end anchoredthereto and the opposite end to the adjacent bearing sleeve, adjustablemeans interconnecting said support member and tubeshaped member so thatsaid torsion bar is twisted when the seat member is rearwardly tilted,and means inter- 3 connecting said bearing sleeves and co-operating with316,127 said support member to limit the tilting movement of the2,095,947 seat member in the opposite direction. 2,403,425

References Cited in the file of this patent 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS103,524

138,461 Winchester Apr. 29, 1873 l 4 Demand Apr. 21, 1885 Herold Oct.12, 1937 Bolens July 2, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Mar. 31, 1938

